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NATO Allies have just agreed on a defence capacity building package for Iraq. It will help strengthen the country’s security and defence sector by providing support in areas where NATO is best-placed to add value. This decision, taken today by the North Atlantic Council, underscores NATO’s commitment to deepening our partnership with Iraq.

The Secretary General

NATO Review

Follow the money
13 Jul. 2015The West’s biggest weapon against Russian aggression in Ukraine so far has been sanctions. But have they worked? And how much pain have they brought at home? NATO’s Defence economist walks us through the latest trends.

Sanctions after Crimea: Have they worked?
13 Jul. 2015There is no military solution to the Ukraine problem’ is a phrase that has been repeated numerous times since the conflict began. But could there be an economic solution? In our latest piece, NATO’s Defence economist looks at how effective Western sanctions have been in hurting Russia’s economy – and how the countries who imposed them have fared. And some of the results are surprising.

Could ISIL go nuclear?
26 May. 2015As ISIL’s in-house journalist warns that there is an ‘infinitely’ greater chance of the group making a nuclear attack on the West, Wolfgang Rudischhauser looks at how much of this claim is bluff – and how much should be taken seriously.

Hybrid war – does it even exist?
07 May. 2015How is it that security professionals are using the buzzword ‘hybrid warfare’ without really knowing or agreeing on what it is? This is the question posed by Damien van Puyvelde, who argues here that the term adds little but confusion to an already confused situation.

Deterrence: what it can (and cannot) do
20 Apr. 2015Deterrence is designed to influence behaviour. But it has its limitations. Michael Ruehle illustrates how deterrence has never been a silver bullet – but also how maybe the West needs to relearn some of its nuances.

Blood brothers?
30 Mar. 2015There's a Baltic state that is preparing for future Russian aggression. A state which suffered similar threats and attacks as those seen in Ukraine today. That was 25 years ago when the country tried to leave the Soviet Union. Today it sits in NATO and the EU. NATO Review takes an in depth look at why Lithuania knows Russia - and the Ukrainian situation - so well.

Escape from Crimea: the ecologist
19 Mar. 2015Few would have supposed that an ecologist would be targeted by the Russian authorities when they occupied Crimea. But this man was given 40 minutes to get out of his homeland. Find out why in his brief story.

Escape from Crimea: the journalist
17 Mar. 2015Russia’s plans for the Crimea became obvious to the peninsula’s journalists before many others. Freedoms dried up, investigations were obstructed, arrests and beatings followed. Here an editor who was forced to flee Crimea outlines what happened there as the Russian plan unfolded.

Escape from Crimea: the Tatar
13 Mar. 2015Russia promised to protect Crimea’s Tatars when it annexed the peninsula. We hear from a refugee who fled to Kiev who says the opposite is happening.

Europe needs less soldiers – but more European ones
12 Feb. 2015NATO’s European Allies don’t need to make defence budget commitments that they can’t live up to, argues Stefan Soesanto. What they really need is to make difficult personnel cuts and start mixed nationality defence practices.

Ukraine’s other war – on corruption
05 Feb. 2015The headlines about Ukraine have focused largely on its fight against Russia-backed separatists. But Ukraine is fighting another, lower profile war – against the corruption that spread under its former President Yanukovych. And it may be Ukraine’s most important battle.

Looking back
18 Dec. 2014NATO Review finishes 2014 by looking back - not just months, but decades. The latest video on information war looks at how the Chernobyl nuclear explosion was handled could prove clues for the next steps in Russia's info attacks on Ukraine. The photostory looks at some of the major events that helped shape Afghanistan over the last four decades.

How information war can kill
18 Dec. 2014The information war which has broken out over Russia’s actions in Ukraine has largely been seen as two sides projecting differing opinions. But the way information is controlled, twisted and spread can have serious effects. We look at how information affected the lives of thousands – possibly millions – of people when it was manipulated following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Afghanistan: how it was and how it is
18 Dec. 2014Afghanistan’s history did not start 30 years ago when it plunged into a prolonged period of war. But this period has had a profound effect on not just the country, but the world. NATO Review looks at some of the iconic images of the country’s path, as NATO ends its combat mission in the country.

Ukraine: what it hopes to leave behind
01 Dec. 2014Ukraine is facing change. It is hoping to look forward to less interference, corruption and conflict. Here are some images of what the country hopes to leave behind.

NATO and EU: tackling hybrid warfare together?
18 Nov. 2014In response to the conflict in Ukraine, NATO has decided to take on an ambitious task: developing a set of tools to deter and defend against adversaries waging hybrid warfare. One expert believes that the best way that the Alliance can counter this irregular threat is to team-up with other international organisations, particularly with the EU. NATO Review looks at ‘why two is better than one’ and why together with the EU, NATO’s strategic partner, the hybrid warfare could be deterred from.

Deterring hybrid warfare: a chance for NATO and the EU to work together?
18 Nov. 2014Hopes were high last December when the EU leaders met to discuss security and defence that this could eventually lead to a joined up EU/NATO approach to security? While waiting for more progress on that, Peter Pindják argues here that tackling hybrid warfare jointly could bring the EU and NATO closer.

Why perception is different to reality
14 Nov. 2014In this edition of NATO Review, we look at the difference between perception and reality. Whether the perception of Russia’s President Putin as a master strategist matches the reality on the ground. In my interview with Ukrainian expert Alexander Motyl, it becomes apparent that Putin has probably lost control of the situation he helped create. Motyl sets out three areas where Putin is actually in a weaker position in Ukraine than he was at the start of the year.

Three ways that Putin's Ukraine strategy has backfired
06 Nov. 2014Russia had a key ally running Ukraine in President Yanukovych at the beginning of this year. The country was weakened by its ingrained corruption. And Ukrainian armed forces did most of their work in far off peacekeeping missions. President Putin’s actions have changed all this. And not in his favour.

Libya: what’s really holding it back?
06 Nov. 2014This week in NATO Review, we look at the challenges presented by a post-Qadhafi Libya which is often presented as a new anarchy that descended on the country after the leader’s fall. Barak Barfi, a Research Fellow at the New America Foundation specialising in Arab and Islamic Affairs, outlines how Qadhafi himself failed to overcome some of the very same problems as today’s Libyan leaders face – and offers some advice on where best to start.

What’s really holding Libya back
06 Nov. 2014The challenges presented by a post-Qadhafi Libya are sometimes presented as a new anarchy that descended on the country after the leader’s fall. But here, Barak Barfi outlines how Qadhafi himself failed to overcome some of the very same problems as today’s Libya’s leaders face – and offers some advice on where best to start.

Can Jordan beat ISIS?
24 Oct. 2014This week in NATO Review, we look at how Jordan has managed to stay so calm in the face of not just ISIS’ murderous threats to the country, but also the other security challenges it is trying to manage. How for example, is it managing the flood of refugees from the Syrian conflict, having already been afflicted with millions of people seeking refuge from conflicts in Palestine and Iraq? And what does this mean for one of its central but most difficult tasks – ensuring that the country does not run out of water? We talk to the country’s government, people and analysts in trying to seek an answer to not only how Jordan keeps ISIS at bay, but also whether it has the right formula to undermine the ISIS message.

ISIS can't crack Jordan. But can Jordan crack ISIS?
24 Oct. 2014NATO Review looks at how Jordan has managed to stay so calm in the face of not just ISIS’ murderous threats to the country, but also the other security challenges it is trying to manage. How for example, is it managing the flood of refugees from the Syrian conflict, having already been afflicted with millions of people seeking refuge from conflicts in Palestine and Iraq? And what does this mean for one of its central but most difficult tasks – ensuring that the country does not run out of water? We talk to the country’s government, people and analysts in trying to seek an answer to not only how Jordan keeps ISIS at bay, but also whether it has the right formula to undermine the ISIS message.

NATO IN FOCUS

The principle of collective defence is at the very heart of NATO’s founding treaty. It remains a unique and enduring principle that binds its members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the Alliance.

NATO has been engaged in continuous transformation for many years to ensure that it has the policies, capabilities and structures required to deal with current and future challenges, including the collective defence of its members.

Over the past two decades, the Alliance has developed a network of structured partnerships with countries from the Euro-Atlantic area, the Mediterranean and the Gulf region, as well as individual relationships with other partners across the globe.